McHenry County rises to ‘medium’ level of community spread for COVID-19

The transmission of COVID-19 rose to a “medium” level in McHenry County for the first time in over two months, according to the thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The “medium” level of community transmission means the county saw fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days but more than 10 new admissions, also per 100,000 residents. Despite this, the county still has less than 15% of its staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the CDC.

As of Friday, McHenry County had seen 94,157 total COVID-19 cases, including 489 confirmed deaths and 48 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed, the McHenry County Department of Health reported. No COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the county since June 25.

The county saw 118.62 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, up from 115.37 the week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County health department.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions totaled six new patients a day as of Tuesday, up from two a week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties was at 20% as of Thursday, down from 23% the previous Friday, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH. Data was not reported on Thanksgiving.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 145 each day as of Tuesday, up from 113 the week before, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH.

Of the 1,509 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, 161 were in the ICU and 45 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 23 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Thursday, with 57 deaths reported in the past week.

In neighboring Lake County, the health department reported a total of 167,431 cases and 1,475 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County has seen 158,397 cases and 1,182 deaths as of Friday, according to its health department.